President Donald Trump unleashed upon two New York City Democrats for their behavior during the ceremony to mark the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks in New York City last week.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were caught laughing together at the 9/11 25th anniversary memorial service on Friday while the names of victims were being read out by their relatives.
The Democrats were seen bursting into laughter at the solemn Ground Zero event in lower Manhattan, at the same moment that mourners stood silently around them.
Trump described the reaction as ‘terrible,’ adding that the Ground Zero Memorial is not a place to be laughing, ‘particularly in that case.’
‘The fact that they were laughing together at a very important part of the ceremony was inappropriate,’ Trump told reporters in Ireland on Sunday, on his way back to the US from attending the Irish Open at his Doonbeg golf club on the banks of the Atlantic Ocean.
A relative of a victim was seen weeping on the memorial seconds before the camera cut to Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez, while victims’ loved ones stood on stage reading the names of the deceased.
The moment quickly went viral across social media, with viewers commenting that their jovial reactions were ‘a slap in the face’ to victims.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz responded on X: ‘How the hell do you laugh while the names of those murdered on 9/11 are being read aloud? Why would you do so?’
President Donald Trump speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One at Shannon Airport after attending the final day of the Irish Open on September 13, 2026 in Shannon, Ireland
The Democrats were seen bursting into laughter during the solemn event on Friday morning in lower Manhattan, while mourners stood silently around them
New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez smiles at the event on Friday
It comes after Mamdani faced calls not to attend the event by 9/11 victims’ groups, which he refused to honor.
Mamdani was also sharply criticized this week after he handed a ceremonial pen from a 9/11 remembrance ceremony to an attorney who once represented a convicted al-Qaeda member, and whose brother was one of the hijackers in the attacks.
A petition launched by relatives of 9/11 victims urging the mayor to avoid the annual ceremony gained over 100,000 signatures, and former New York Governor George Pataki joined calls for Mamdani to stay away.
When asked this week for his response to calls to avoid the 9/11 event, Mamdani said he would still attend, and said he wanted ‘the focus to be on the families whose loved ones were stolen from them 25 years ago in the horrific act of terror of September 11th.’
